With a busy week ahead of Easter, Rui (CT7ALW) and I decided to squeeze in a Friday activation of two summits on the fringes of the Gerês National Park.
Piorneiro – CT/MN-018
The day began with a brisk 2 km hike. The trig point here sits atop a massive stack of boulders, requiring some scrambling and crawling to find a workable operating position directly beneath the structure.
Deployment was a struggle; while attempting to tension the wire, we unfortunately snapped and lost a brand-new end-fed antenna. Switching to a backup, we operated with a compromised setup and faced further technical hurdles with a sticking TX/RX relay on Rui’s HF rig. Despite the low contact yield and gear gremlins, we successfully validated the summit.
Picotas – CT/MN-025
After a scenic hike back to the car—accompanied by several wild horses—we drove into the heart of the Gerês National Park for Picotas. The hike was short but demanding, rewarded by a stunning panorama of the mountain range and the Vilarinho das Furnas dam.
While the physical setup was much smoother here, we were met with severe, pulsating QRN. Fortunately, the filtering capabilities of the Elecraft KX3 proved their worth, allowing us to validate quickly and even log a few 2m SSB contacts.
Future Scouting
We spent some time on the summit surveying approach routes for neighboring peaks. We have our sights set on Pé de Cabril (CT/MN-012) for our next outing on April 11th.
Thanks to all the chasers for your patience and for making the trip a success.
73, CT2IWW & CT7ALW